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Brewers' rotation coming into focus

Brewers president of baseball operations Doug Melvin and manager Ron Roenicke discuss the additions of Matt Garza and Francisco Rodriguez

By Adam McCalvy
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MLB.com |

PHOENIX -- Brewers manager Ron Roenicke has already informed one of his three top starting pitchers about the team's tentative plan for the first week of the regular season, but will wait to make that plan public.

Yovani Gallardo, Kyle Lohse and Matt Garza will pitch in that order beginning Friday, when Gallardo, who has started the past four season openers for the Brewers, starts against the Giants in Scottsdale, Ariz. Lohse is scheduled to work against the Dodgers at Maryvale Baseball Park on Saturday, weather permitting, and Garza is scheduled to make his Brewers spring debut on Sunday against the Rockies in Scottsdale.

"I don't think it will be that late" that he makes a more formal announcement, Roenicke said. "The reason I don't want to do that now is there's only one of the veterans I've talked to so far about it, and it's because I want him ahead of time to know what I'm thinking. The reason I don't tell the other guys is things change. All of a sudden we have them lined up, and one outing he cuts his finger and all of a sudden we have to back him off three, four days. Now, things change."

Marco Estrada and Wily Peralta project to fill the rest of the Brewers' rotation, and they each debuted Thursday in an 11-3 win over the A's. The way he hung his head and kicked at the dirt around the pitcher's mound, it was obvious that Estrada was not happy about his first inning of work in 2014.

Estrada walked the first two batters he faced before A's shortstop Jed Lowrie delivered a two-run double.

"I felt weird out there, I'm not going to lie," Estrada said. "Obviously, walking two guys in one inning is not something I like to do, not something anybody likes to do. I just felt a little rushed. I was thinking the whole time I had to work on certain pitches, to where I didn't establish fastball. If you don't establish that, your other pitches aren't going to come."

Estrada limited the damage to two runs in the first inning and then turned to a simple combination of fastball-changeup in a 1-2-3 second. In all, he was charged with two runs on two hits, with two walks and one strikeout.

Peralta took over beginning in the third inning and allowed only a hit and a walk in two scoreless innings, with one strikeout.

Adam McCalvy is a reporter for MLB.com. Read his blog, Brew Beat, and follow him on Twitter at @AdamMcCalvy. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.